DoctorPaul's Guitar Emporium - Sold Guitars

(SOLD)

Stormshadow GuitarWorks 'VH150' Original Series

"Cleo"

#0018

 

If you're paying attention you'll know by now that Rich Atkin (the owner of and the luthier behind Stormshadow Guitarworks) claims to have made three guitars with Kahler trems, and ONLY three.  When I bought one of those Kahlered guitars ("Monday"), then a second one ("General Lee"), I wondered how cool it would be to find the third (and last) one.  But what would the chances be, huh?  The likelihood of the third coming up for sale was pretty slim.  Fast forward to 2015, and I got a 'heads-up' from a buddy that something had hit eBay that I'd probably like ... I opened the link, expecting to find something moderately tasty that I'd be quite tempted to throw a bid or two at, but was instead knocked for six to see THIS.  Being the third of the set of three Kahlered Stormshadows, I knew straight away that I wanted it, and the rest?  I suppose you know the rest already.  The usual process went down ... I contacted the seller to double-check that it was what I thought it was, then sat back and watched the auction count down.  You know the drill.  Watch as the other bids come in, choose a price that you're comfortable with, then double it, then throw in a whopping great big bid with just a few seconds to go.  I think that this one got down to two seconds before the end, and the "sniper bid" did its job perfectly.  So, from a collector's point of view, that is a full-house ... not only the set of three Kahlered guitars, but also three consecutive serial numbers.

None of that "collector" shit really matters of course.  What DOES matter is that this is another hand-made masterpiece from our boy Rich.  The name gives away the inspiratrion behind it. "VH150" is clearly a nod of the hat to Van Halen and the beautiful Kramer 5150.  Including the ... er ... rather unique 'banana' or 'hockeystick' headstock.  Really, the head on this is HUGE, far bigger than is required, but the closer you look at it, the more you see that it is a replica of the 'stock on Eddie's real 5150.  Whatever, I think that it is awesome.  Folklore has it that Eddie initially had the boys at Kramer add wood to a standard Kramer 'beak' headstock to produce the banana / hockeystick.  Pragmatically, it has been my experience in the past that adding mass (weight) to a guitar headstock is a great way to increase resonance and sustain, so perhaps that is why Eddie did it.  If you want to try for yourself, play a guitar for a while, then (carefully) attach a heavy-assed G-clamp to the headstock.  Notice anything?  Of course you do.   

So.  What we have is an Alder body, a lovely birdseye maple neck / board and a very tidy red paint job over a 5150 body shape ... kind of a squished strat shape.  The trem is a lovely chrome Kahler 2300, and the single pickup (a humbucker at the bridge) is a BareKnuckle 'Cold Sweat'.